Every nation ought to have a right to provide for its own happiness.

Government is frequently and aptly classed under two descriptions-a government of force, and a government of laws; the first is the definition of despotism-the last, of liberty.

The superiority...enjoyed by nations that have...perfected a branch of industry, constitutes a...formidable obstacle.

To attach full confidence to an institution of this nature, it appears to be an essential ingredient in its structure, that it shall be under private and not a public direction-under the guidance of individual interest, not of public policy; which, would be . . . liable to being too much influenced by public necessity.

This position will not be disputed so long as it is admitted that the desire of reward is one of the strongest incentives of human conduct, or that the best security for the fidelity of mankind is to make their interest coincide with their duty. Even the love of fame, the ruling passion of the noblest minds... would on the contrary deter him from the undertaking, when he foresaw that he must quit the scene before he could accomplish the work.

The natural cure for an ill-administration, in a popular or representative constitution, is a change of men.

Men are rather reasoning than reasonable animals for the most part governed by the impulse of passion.